Members of the Rwanda Surgical Society (RSS) have said that there are still challenges in management of non-communicable diseases, especially cancers, in the low-resource countries.They raised the concern during a forum held in Kigali bringing together members of the body.According to Dr Emile Rwamasirabo, the head of surgeons in Rwanda, non -ommunicable diseases are increasingly becoming a major cause of morbidity and mortality in the country. “This conference will focus on the role of surgeons in the management of cancers. The most common cancers in the country include prostate cancer for men, breast cancer for women, and kidney and blood cancer in children,” Dr Rwamasirabo, who is also the chief executive of King Faisal Hospital, said.“We started a cancer registry to record all cancers in the country, and because of increasing awareness among Rwandans, today we are able to detect more cancers early enough,” he added. Dr Pacifique Mugenzi, an oncologist at Rwanda Military Hospital, Kanombe, said cancer treatment modalities revolve around surgery. “Cancer surgery is an operation to repair or remove part of your body to diagnose or treat cancer. This, in most cases, is accompanied by other treatments such as radiation, chemotherapy, hormone therapy and biological therapy,” Dr Mugenzi said. He said there is currently limited number of oncologists in the country, as well as lack of adequate equipment such as radiology machine.The oncologist said these challenges are the reason patients are still referred to foreign hospitals for treatment. “On average, I attend to 10 patients per day,” he said.
